


Salvation

by Oliver__Niko



Series: Zestiria Drabble Week [2]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Other, Tainted AU (Tales of Zestiria), Tainted Sorey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 19:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15670209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliver__Niko/pseuds/Oliver__Niko
Summary: After losing Mikleo in their final battle, Sorey has succumbed to malevolence and has refused his friends' acts of purification. Rose knows what must be done in order to stop him before his malevolence spreads.





	Salvation

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my second piece for Drabble Week! I'm usually not a fan of Tainted!AU, however I do like some interpretations and wanted to explore it this way. Hopefully you enjoy it!

The malevolence in Artorius’ Throne is so dense that Rose can hardly breathe. It had been the same when Heldalf had been there, yet she had her friends to help her fight through. Today, she stands alone, thinking back to the awful day when everything seemed like it would be all right.

They stopped Heldalf. It should have lead to the bright future they had been longing for. But they did not stop him as they had planned. Because there was a single loss, the one person who could make Sorey lose himself by vanishing, which changed everything. Which made Sorey murder Heldalf out of hatred and vengeance, rather to save him. Make him take all the malevolence into himself as opposed to sleep in order to purify it.

“ _I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for taking him from me!”_

It had been the perfect plan. Sorey stayed strong regardless of how Heldalf and Symonne would torment him. No illusions, mind games or anything else made him fall off the right path.

So why not take the one who mattered most, torture and kill him?

Mikleo’s screams, Sorey’s yells and sobs, they all still ring continuously in Rose’s mind. They haunt her dreams and creep up when she leasts expects it. Everyone had known in that moment that even if Heldalf would be the one to die, he would still be the one to live. Because Sorey eventually did succumb to the darkness. Even someone who had been as pure-hearted as him could only take so much before he is pushed over the edge.

Rose and the remaining seraphim have tried to purify him. But he rejects this with everything he has. At first, it was difficult to figure out why. It is clear that Sorey still cares for them. So why would he reject their help and friendship?

“ _He would rather feel this numbness than suffer so badly again,”_ Lailah had said one day, in a voice which showed how much she was holding back her tears. _“He refuses our help because he has no idea how to live with the trauma.”_

Sorey had already been through far too much as the Shepherd. Losing Mikleo had been the last straw, the last blow which would finally knock him down. Of course he is far too gone for purification.

And so, Rose is here to do what she knows no one else can. She inhales deeply as she steps forward. She keeps her head held high despite how much she wishes she could turn back and run.

“You’re alone this time,” Sorey’s voice, cold and emotionless, speaks out to her. Rose does not reply for a moment. Her eyes instead inspect the man’s form as she brings herself to a stop. Sorey sits on the throne, one leg resting on the other, with his hand held by his face. This face is older than it once was. Years have passed, after all; Rose herself has aged and grown. Sorey’s outfit has also changed, donning darker colours than he had once wore.

“I didn’t want them to suffer more than they already have,” Rose responds, just as emotionless. Sorey lets out a fake laugh.

“Or they just threw their job onto the assassin.”

“None of us want to lose you, Sorey,” Rose retorts. “You know that. And I know that you hate that you’ve become this way.”

“Whether I hate it or not doesn’t matter. Of course I didn’t want Mikleo to die, or anyone else. But life doesn’t always go the way you want it to.”

Rose swallows, trying to force back the tears which wish to form. "Of course I know that. Who do you take me for? I’ve suffered loss too. I know how much it hurts.”

“So you’re saying I’m weak for falling like I have?”

“Not at all! Don’t put words into my mouth!” Rose steps closer, and as she does, Sorey stands. His stance is intimidating, yet Rose still brings herself up to her full height, her bright eyes locking with his lifeless ones. “I never said you’re weak. I just want you to know I understand.”

“No. You don’t, Rose. And no matter what you say or do, I’m not going back.”

“You always were a stubborn brat.” Rose forces a smile at him, finally unable to stop tears from filling her eyes. “I knew I couldn’t change your mind. I wanted to try, but I know it’s impossible.”

“So do it. Do what you came here to do.”

“You really want me to?”

“Zaveid once said that death is a salvation for some,” says Sorey quietly. “I know what he means, now. And I know that if I stay alive, my malevolence will spread. I’ll become the Lord of Calamity.”

Rose nods, a single tear trickling down her face. “I know. And as the new Shepherd, I have to put a stop to that.”

She reaches behind her back, taking one of the daggers which rest there. She cannot move for a moment as she holds it up in front of her. Yet with a sharp inhale and closed eyes, she forces the blade through Sorey’s chest. She lets out a sob as she hears his gasp, the way his body immediately slumps against hers.

“R-Rose?” he whispers. She removes the dagger, holding him up.

“What could you possibly say to me now, idiot?” she answers, just as quietly. She leans her head against his, realising that he smells just as he always had, that when you are this close and ignore the suffocating malevolence, everything feels the same.

“Don’t fail like I did. Be the Shepherd that I couldn’t be.”

And with those words, his body grows lifeless. All is silent except for Rose’s sobs as she collapses to the floor, taking Sorey’s body down with her.

“I could never be like you,” are her last words to him, as she continues to howl and hold his body close to her.


End file.
